Happiness starts out as a charming courtship between hopelessly attracted opposites: Heather, an out-going, theatre-performing California girl, and Brian, an intellectual New Yorker with an unwavering writing routine. But when Heather falls pregnant, their magical interlude abruptly ends—Brian loves her, only he doesn't want kids. So Heather decides to have their baby alone.

Mere hours after Gracie's arrival, Heather's bliss is interrupted when a nurse wakes her, 'Get dressed, your baby is in trouble.' This is not how Heather had imagined motherhood. As concerns for her health grow, Brian and Heather begin a cautious return to each other. Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After transforms heartbreak and parental fears into a lyrical meditation on love and happiness, in all their crooked configurations.

Additional Information

Pages

336

Imprint

Oneworld

About the Author

Heather Harpham has written and performed six solo plays, including a theatrical version of this material, also entitled Happiness. She teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and SUNY Purchase and has been a visiting artist at colleges and universities across the United States. Originally from Northern California, Heather lives along the Hudson River with her family. www.heatherharpham.com

Reviews

'Happiness touches on every woman's worst nightmares. An unplanned pregnancy. A reluctant partner. A baby with a life-threatening condition and an agonising moral dilemma. Could a second child save its older sibling? A beautifully written story of how a family is made and lives and loves together through the worst and best of times.'

- - Dame Jenni Murray, presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour

'A heartfelt exploration of mortality and life, this memoir also explores the complex pulls and pushes of human relationships, and the deep debt we owe to family, friends, and modern medicine. At heart, it is a sobering mediation on the lasting impermanence of its titular emotion, happiness.'

- NPR.org

'An at times achingly painful, ultimately feel-good book for those who cringe at mawkish sentimentality.'

- Elle

'Utterly gorgeous (heartbreaking, staggering, genius) story of life with a seriously sick child. If you're looking for a book to love, I recommend it.'

- Chicago Tribune

'Harpham immediately grabs for the heart, juxtaposing the roller-coaster reality of caring for a critically ill newborn alongside her exhilarating, romantic courtship with Brian.'

- Shelf Awareness

'Although a personal story, Harpham's memoir provides a larger, universal picture of unconditional love toward a child and the push-pull of an adult relationship and all its inherent highs and lows.'

- Kirkus

'An extraordinary and bewitching book, Happiness has staked a claim among the most beautiful and moving portraits of parenthood and partnership.'

- –Susan Cheever, bestselling author of Home Before Dark

'With intelligence and lyricism and compassion, Harpham gives us her story of the rocky road that sometimes leads right where you want it to.'

- –Ann Hood, bestselling author of The Knitting Circle and Comfort: A Journey Through Grief

'Told with abundant charm and insight, this book is a beautifully drawn portrait of one family—its comforts, disappointments and, on the very best days, moments of grace.'